I passed!

So I passed my social work licensing exam, and you know what that means--more knitting! Well, not to say that last weekend when I should have been studying my ass off I took frequent knitting breaks...well, I guess then I should rephrase it that I'll have more time for knitting without guilt. Here is a pic of my study area, which was frequently abandoned for knitting:Here are some FO's from this week:

the Easter egg, which is a little bigger than called for since I used different yarn and needles.the It Ain't Plain, Jane scarf, directions for which can be found on Dorothy's blog.I was disappointed that after blocking that it was quite flat and not squishy anymore. I used Malabrigo. But the hole was really looking weird before blocking and now it doesn't.

It was the first time I did 1x1 cables and I didn't feel like using a cable needle, and I've always wanted to try cabling without a cable needle. It was difficult at first, but I came up with a cool method that is similar to my favorite kind of stitch: the decrease. I didn't look up how to do cables this way, and I think this is probably and already-known method, but I will blog about it just in case. Excuse the blurriness; I was on the train:

So for a C2B, which is what this pattern calls for, here is what it looked like before: Then, as if to K2Tog, slip the next two stitches. I've also seen this as "Slip the next two stitches tog as if to knit"This is what it should look like after slipping. See how already the 2nd stitch is in front of the first?Now slip each stitch back on the left needle, one at a time and knitwise, so the stitch will sit properly on the needle.
This is after one stitch is slipped: And then slipping the other:
Both done:So essentially you have just rearranged them. Now just knit as usual:
To do a C2F, slip the next two stitches one at a time as if to SSK:Then slip them knitwise at the same time back on the left needle. In an SSK, this is where you would knit them together, but here you are just slipping.Now that they are rearranged, just knit them in their new order:Done!
I was showing my dentist, another 20something knitter, and she was like, no cable needle? you are crazy! I hope this mini lesson encourages new knitters to try it, since you are never really letting any of the stitches go, the results of which (the stitches dropping all the way down) scare most. Don't even ask me how to do this for wider cables, but Heidi does it, so ask her...

Oh yeah and after my exam I went up to my mom's work to meet with a family friend who is a social worker and is very knowledgeable about and connected in the field. Anyway, my mom works in Kensington, so you KNOW I had to go to Inez's Stitchery. I bought myself a present for passing my exam and such: Handpainted yarn!

I got Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals which is 70% mohair and 30% wool:
And the ever-popular Mountain Colors in their 4/8's wool, which is 100% wool. yum.The nice ladies working there asked me what I was going to use it for. Stash enhancement. Wow now I KNOW I'm a real knitter...

I also got one of those I-cord making things, as well as three used books from a neighboring store, my favorite of which is Essential Papers on Narcissism, which includes essays from Freud, Reich, Kohut, Kernberg, and others. Awesome.

Ok, so you know you're a knitter/crocheter when you see it everywhere. I walk by these circles daily on the way to the metro. I usually just look at the rectangle tiles around them that look like stockinette stitch, but then after doing that damn egg and dissecting that damn hacky sack, I saw this circle as a resource for how to increase in order to make a knitted or crocheted circle. We'll see after I count if it's accurate.

Ok, so I just counted them, and here are the results:
in Row 1: there is 1 stitch (duh)
Row 2: 8
Row 3: 16 (increase 8, seems accurate so far)
Row 4: 26 (increase 10, hmm, seems a little odd, but i'll go with it)
Row 5: 34 (increase 8, ok, I think this is not the best...)
Row 6: 42 (increase 8, yeah, these blocks aren't the same size...yet I go on)
Row 7: 51 (increase 9, what?!)
Row 8: 60 (increase 9, yeah this method is not working)

My conclusions: good in theory, but the bricks aren't identical, so it doesn't work. Just read EZ...

Happy knitting!